Tithes & Alms

Ex.1 Solomon sinned by having multiple wives, so it is a sin today and the practice is not of the Lord.

• It is a common saying that Solomon sinned by having multiple wives because of the law concerning the kings not multiplying wives in Duet 17:17. In truth, the law is referring to a king abusing his power for gain which would result in a transgression against Ahayah as is evident by Duet 17:16 explaining how a king shouldn't abuse his power to multiply horses, nor sell the people to the Egyptians for horses in abuse of his power against Ahayah's covenant for the people:

 Deu 17:16  

But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 

• The law in Duet 17:16 didn't restrict a king from having multiple horses in itself by evidence of David having 100 chariots with horses. {2 Sa 8:4} Also, Ahayah gave Solomon riches {1Ki 3:13} so that he had many of horses {1 kings 4:26} and horses out of Egypt, {1King 10:28} but he didn't abuse his power by sending the people to captivity to gain more horses as the law said and the horses were from Ahayah so he didn't multiply the horses on his own accord after a desire for gain. So the testimonies show multiple horses in itself was not the issue, but multiplying horses for gain or enslaving the people to the Egyptians for gain would have been a transgression for kings. Likewise, multiplying wives in itself was not the issue for kings but abusing one's power to multiply wives to one's self for lust was the issue because they would turn ones's heart away:

Deu 17:17

Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

•  Solomon erred by abusing his power in multiplying wives in excess according to his lust instead of only taking what Ahayah gave him like he did with the horses:

1Ki 11:3

And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other alahayims:

• By precept, Solomon literally did what Ahayah said not to do and the result was exactly what Ahayah said would be the result. He took 1000 wives according to his lust unto himself and they turned his heart away from Ahayah. His act is an example of exactly what a king should not do according to the law. Solomon wasn't imputed sin for having multiple wives in itself because multiple wives in itself is not unlawful. The scriptures show what he was imputed sin for:

1Ki 11:1

But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

1Ki 11:2

Of the nations concerning which AHAYAH said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their alahayims: Solomon clave unto these in love.

• He is accounted for transgressing Ahayah's command in Deut 7:3-4 by making marriages with strange women who turned his heart away as Ahayah prophesied in the law would be the result of doing so:

Duet 7:3

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

Deu 7:4

For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other alahayims: so will the anger of AHAYAH be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.​

•  As it was shown before in "Understanding Marriage," wives are appointed to men, by evidence of Tobias' story. {Tobit 6:17} The sin of Solomon was taking strange wives that were not given to him by Alahayim through his lust which resulted in his heart being turned away. The testimonies confirm the sin of Solomon was marrying strange (unbelieving) wives not multiple wives in itself:

Neh 13:23

In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
Neh 13:25

And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by Alahayim, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

Neh 13:26

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his Alahayim, and Alahayim made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

Neh 13:27

Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our Alahayim in marrying strange wives?

• (According to the testimonies, the transgression of Solomon was marrying unbelieving wives which turned his heart away to sin. The issue was not multiple wives according to the law and testimonies in itself, but "marrying strange wives" that turn your heart away is the sin of Solomon. The laws did not restrict kings from having multiple wives all together by evidence of king David, the perfect hearted {I King 15:3-5} who not only had wives, {8 wives (1Ch 3:1-5; 1 Sam 18:27} 10 servant-wives (2 Sam 12:11;15:16)} but was offered to be give more wives if he had desired them from Ahayah. {II Sam 12:7-8} A king ought not to multiply wives in abuse of his power according to his lust nor should anyone take strange (unbelieving) wives because in both cases, the wives who would turn away one's heart are what the laws were admonishing us about, not that multiple wives is not of the Lord. In Solomon's confession of his sin, he relays to us how his lust for a strange (unbelieving) woman​ lead him to error and she turned his heart away to sin against Ahayah: ​

Testament of Solomon 128

And I Solomon glorified Alahayim, and adorned the temple of Ahayah with all fair-seeming. And I was glad in spirit in my kingdom and there was peace in my days. And I took wives of my own from every land {Deu 17:17}, who were numberless. And I marched against the Jebusaeans, and there I saw a Jebusaean, the daughter of a man: and I fell violently in love with her, and desired to take her to wife along with my other wives. And I said to their priests: "Give me the Sonmanitess to wife." But the priest of Moloch said to me: "If thou lovest this maiden, go in and worship our alahayims, the great alahayim Raphan and the alahayim called Moloch." I therefore was in fear of the glory of Alahayim, and did not follow to worship. And I said to them: " I will not worship a strange alahayim. What is this proposal, that ye compel me to do so much?" But they said: "This commandment was given by our fathers." 

Testament of Solomon 129

And I answered that I would on no account worship strange alahayims, they told the maiden not to sleep with me until I complied and sacrificed to the alahayims. I then was moved, but crafty Eros brought and laid by her for me five grass hoppers, saying: "Take these grasshoppers, and crush them together in the name of the alahayim Moloch; and then I will sleep with you." And this I actually did. And at once the Spirit of Alahayim departed from me, and I became weak as well as foolish in my words. And after that I was obliged by her to build a temple of idols to Baal, and to Raphan, and to Moloch, and to the other idols.

Testament of Solomon 130

I then, wretch that I am, followed her advice, and the glory of Alahayim quite departed from me; and my spirit was darkened, and I became the sport of idols and demons. Wherefore I wrote out this Testament, that ye who get possession of it may pity, and attend to the last things, and not to the first. So that ye may find grace for ever and ever. Amen

• Solomon himself confessed his sin so that we would not fall in the same error of lusting for strange women and letting them lead our hearts away from Ahayah.

Joseph and Asenath 7:6

For Joseph had Alahayim always before his 2 eyes and ever  remembered the injunctions of his father; for Jacob often spake and admonished his son Joseph and all his sons : " Keep yourselves, children, securely from a strange woman so as not to have fellowship with her, for fellowship with her is ruin and destruction."

• By Solomon's account, his error was not having multiple wives, but that his lust after a strange woman turned his heart away to sacrifice to idols. The laws {Duet 17:17; 7:3-4} and testimonies concerning Solomon {1Ki 11:1-4; Neh 13:23-27} also show his sin was not multiple wives in itself but loving strange women, taking strange wives and abusing his power to multiply wives for his gain (lust), all of which would turn a man's heart away according to scripture. If the wives were believers like Zipporah of Midian, Ruth of Moab or Rahab of Canaan, his wives would not have been a snare unto him because they wouldn't have turned his heart away because a good believing wife, from any nation, is given in the portion of them that fear the Lord:

Sir 26:3  

A good wife is a good portion, which shall be given in the portion of them that fear the Lord.

In closing, the holy scriptures show marrying strange wives is a transgression for any man and multiplying wives in abuse of a king's power for gain (lust) will turn a king's heart away from the Lord. 

Ex.2 The New Testament says “whosoever shall put away his WIFE” “it’s singular not plural, which means you can’t have multiple wives.”

{Matt 5:31-32, Matt 19:9,Mark 10:11,Luke 16:8}

• There are no discussion in the scriptures making multiple wives unlawful all together because multiple wives were never unlawful in itself by evidence of Lamech before the flood {Genesis 4:19} Abraham, Jacob, Elkanah Samuel's father, and King David all who had multiple wives amongst other men. The question Yache was asked about in the Gospel was pertaining to "what reasons are lawful to divorce a spouse." Thus showing the topic was about divorce, not how many wives a man can have. From Yache's answer to the Pharisees, even if a man has multiple wives, if he divorces a wife save for the cause of fornication and marries another, he has committed adultery against her. For understanding through the testimonies, Abraham had two wives, Sarah and Hagar, {Gen 16:3} which is no adultery because they were both his wives, not another man's, and no wife was put away to marry another as Yache explained. Also, when Abraham did put away his wife Hagar, {Gen 21:14} he did not marry another in her lifetime, {Jubilees 19:11} because it would have been adultery against her according to Yache's teaching. According to the law, when she died, he married another when he was free to do so {Rom 7:39} which wasn't adultery. Abraham remaining married to Sarah when he put Hagar away wasn't adultery because he didn't "put Hagar away to marry another," but actually "put Hagar away while still being married to Sarah(His first wife)," which isn't adultery according to Yache's teaching. Also, Hagar remained unmarried {1Co 7:11} because it would have been adultery if she did marry another while put away from her husband since no fornication was committed.{Luke 16:18} Through the testimonies, Yache simply explained that divorce without proper cause and marrying another was adultery, not that multiple wives was unlawful or adultery if one went about things the right way by doing the following:

1. remaining married and marrying another

2. divorcing for the right cause and marrying another if the wife would not repent of her adultery.

• In closing, Yache's teaching didn't mean a man can only have one wife, but explained how a man ought not divorce his wife for just any cause nor commit adultery against any  wife.

Ex3. 1 Co 7:1-3 - Paul’s letter in Corinthians said “let each man have his own wife” that means you can only have one wife

• Please reference "Are multiple wives righteous" to get edification on the fact that each wife a man has is his own wife. Paul's admonition is true and righteous. Jacob is a great example because he only slept with his own wives and he did not sleep with anyone else's to avoid fornication.  Paul's admonition is not against multiple wives, but against fornication, which occurs when one sleeps with someone else's wife or a harlot and not your own wife(s). Fornication is also when a woman sleeps with a stranger that is not her own husband. The Corinthians struggled with fornication with harlots {Lev 19:29, I Cor 6:16-18} and a man taking his father's wife. {1Co 5:1} Paul did not speak against multiple wives in itself, but he spoke against a son for taking his father's wife because that is a transgression of the law {Lev 18:6-8} and fornicating with harlots because it is against the law. {Lev 19:29} 

1Co 5:1

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

• This error was similar to the error Reuben made with his father's wife sadly.

Deuteronomy 22:30

30  A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt.

Lev 20:11

And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

1Co 5:3

For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

1Co 5:4

In the name of our Lord Yache Meshiyacha, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Yache Meshiyacha, ​

1Co 5:5

To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Yache.

• He instructed them on what to do the next time they gathered together for an assembly because it wasn’t right to eat with the unrighteous as I Cor 5:11 shows. The next feast was the Passover, showing the churches were keeping the feast days too. He told them to separate that man from the congregation, so that he may be ashamed and repent. Notice no one judged him to stone him with stones, but they admonish him as a brother and separate from him, in hopes he would turn away from the iniquity.

II Thess 3:14-15

2Th 3:14

And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

2Th 3:15

Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
1Co 5:11

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

• (If a man is called a brother in the Faith and he is operating in lawlessness, do not eat with him, so that he may be ashamed of his deeds.)

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​The Corinthians also struggled with fornication with Harlots

1Co 6:15

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Meshiyacha? shall I then take the members of Meshiyacha, and make them the members of an harlot?G4204 Alahayim forbid.

(There was also an issue of people sleeping with the harlots, which is fornication because a harlot is in constant fornication sleeping with men that are not her husband.)

Definition:

G4204

πόρνη

pornē

Thayer Definition: 1) a woman who sells her body for sexual uses 1a) a prostitute, a harlot, one who yields herself to defilement for the sake of gain 1b) any woman indulging in unlawful sexual intercourse, whether for gain or for lust 2) metaphorically an idolatress ​

1Co 6:16

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 
1Co 6:17

But he that is joined unto Lord is one spirit. 

1Co 6:18

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

• (The union is a sin against one's self and one's wife if one is married because she is the body of the man.)

1Co 6:19

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of Alahayim, and ye are not your own? 
1Co 6:20

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify Alahayim in your body, and in your spirit, which are Alahayim's.​

• In the 7th chapter of 1Corinthians, they asked Paul for solutions to avoid fornication and he gave them the two options according to the holy scriptures:

1Co 7:1  

Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
1Co 7:2  

Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
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• According to the Law and Testimonies, there are two options to avoid fornication:

1. Chastity like Paul remaining unmarried. {1Co 7:1, 7-8}

2. Get married like Levi to avoid fornication {1 Co 7:2} because a married woman is a tower against death to her husband. {Sir 26:22}

Testament of Levi 9:7-11

angel of the Lord showed unto me. And he taught me the law of the priesthood, of sacrifices, [8] whole burnt-offerings, first-fruits, freewill-offerings, peace-offerings. And each day he was instructing me, and was busied on my behalf before AHAYAH, and said to me: Beware of the spirit of 10 fornication; for this shall continue and shall by thy seed pollute the holy place. Take, therefore, to thyself a wife without blemish or pollution, while yet thou art young, and not of the race of [11] strange nations.

Sir 26:22

An harlot shall bee accounted as spittle: but a married woman is a tower against death to her husband.

• The spirit of fornication cannot get a man killed if he is laying with his own wife because she is a tower against death for him since the marriage bed is undefiled. {Heb 13:4} For example, Jacob didn't commit fornication with his first wife Leah, nor did he commit fornication with Rachel whom he received after Leah. Each wife is his own wife, not another man's and he is each woman's own husband as the head each woman in the house they both built up. {Ruth 4:11}

• Paul's letters to Corinth were not discussing the legality of multiple wives, but were just concerning fornication by sleeping with other men’s wives and harlots. He simply gave two options to overcome fornication: Chastity or Marriage. Paul’s response to the Corinthian's questions and troubles is good doctrine.

1Co 7:6

But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.
1Co 7:7

For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of Alahayim, one after this manner, and another after that.

1Co 7:8

I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

1Co 7:9

But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

• (He is clear that if you cannot contain the desire, then get married so that you do not sin in fornication and burn.)

1Co 7:2

Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

• (Indeed, a man cannot sleep with another man’s wife, and a woman can't sleep with a stranger that's not her husband.)

1Co 7:3

Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

• An example is when Leah came to Jacob after her discussion with Rachel, he did not deny her intimacy as she asked for. {Genesis 30:15-16} 

1Co 7:4

The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

• (In marriage, benevolence is due since husband and wife have power of each other's body.)

1Co 7:5

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

• Do not deny each other benevolence too long (unless that’s what you agreed on), lest you give place for the adversary to tempt you or your spouse to fornicate.)

Ex4. 1 Tim 3:2,12 “The bible says Bishops and Deacons can only have one wife, that’s why a man isn’t supposed to have multiple wives.”

• Paul instructed Timothy on the necessary requirements for him to ordain Bishops and Deacons among the churches. The fact that it was required for a man to be the husband of one wife, substantiates that multiple wives was still common practice. Paul exhorted that if a man wanted to be a bishop, it was a good desire, but in order to be in that position, he needed to only have one wife. This requirement showed that men who had multiple wives or no wife were not able to be Bishops or Deacons, yet it did not hinder those other men with multiple wives or no wives from being apart of the ministrations of the Body in other positions. [I Cor 12:27-28] Men who are unmarried or have multiple wives can still be Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, workers of miracles, have gifts of healing, or diversities of tongues even though they may be unmarried or have multiple wives. They can also still be disciples as members of the Church as well. Men, whether unmarried, married or having multiple wives, are not withheld from receiving salvation, as is evident by Paul the unmarried Apostle and Jacob the prophet with four wives who are all alive in the heavens by faith in Yache. [Matt 23:32] The requirement for a Bishop or Deacon to have one wife was just a means to narrow down and select a Bishop or Deacon who could bear the burden of the congregation. The restriction did not pertain to all church members as is evident by scriptures. The scriptures don't restrict all the members of the Body of Christ to one wife or else our father, Jacob, could not be a member of the Church.

1Ti 3:1

This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
1Ti 3:2

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1Ti 3:12

Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

• This shows that it was never Paul’s instruction to degrade men with multiple wives or condemn it as evil since it was only a requirement to be a bishop or deacon, not a member of the Church like an apostle, disciple, or prophet. Paul himself, a Benjamite by nation, comes from a lineage of multiple wives thru his forefather Benjamin, the son of Jacob. So it would be a reproach unto his fathers to degrade a man with multiple wives. Paul just gave a good guideline for choosing a Bishop and a Deacon over the physical church since the people practiced multiple wives already. Timothy had to narrow down his selection to the one's that had one wife for the congregation as the Lord Yache commanded Paul to tell him. This law did not stop men with multiple wives, nor men sworn unto chastity from doing the work of Alahayim. Paul, John and Judas Thomas were not Bishops over a physical church, but Apostles building the spiritual church unto Christ though unmarried. Also, David, a man of a few wives, was a preacher and lawgiver unto the people in his days {Gad the seer chapter 8} and currently the lead psalms singer in the 7th heaven before the Lord. {Apocalypse of Paul 29}

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